Macca v Mucca: the hidden agenda

The real reason Paul McCartney is going to court is to silence Heather for good, says Stuart Wavell

Divorce lawyers who have watched with gruesome fascination the escalating hostilities between Paul McCartney and his estranged wife Heather Mills believe the couple are sleepwalking into a minefield that could spring some nasty surprises. “This is madness,” says one.

The split between the 64-year-old former Beatle and his 38-year-old wife was emphasised last week when Mills hired the solicitor who represented Diana, Princess of Wales at her divorce, in perfect symmetry to McCartney’s chosen lawyer, who acted for Prince Charles.

Anthony Julius of the firm Mishcon de Reya won Diana a £17m settlement, leading Geoffrey Bignell, Charles’s financial adviser, to claim: “She took every penny he had. She took him to the cleaners.”

The prospect of a Charles vs Diana rerun is slightly misleading, however. McCartney is much richer than a mere prince, and under present rules he stands to lose only a fraction of his wealth. He appears to